Revell Star Wars Republic Star Destroyer

The Venator-class Star Destroyer, also known as the Venator-class Destroyer, Republic attack cruiser, and later Imperial attack cruiser, was one of the capital ships used extensively by the Galactic Republic during the later parts of the Clone Wars, as well as by the Galactic Empire. It was designed and constructed by Kuat Drive Yards and Allanteen Six shipyards.

A stock ship was 1,137 meters long, making it one of the largest capital ships capable of atmospheric operations, landing on planets to load and unload troops and vehicles.

The Venator-class was born from the success of the Acclamator-class assault ship and was designed by Lira Blissex for the purpose of serving as a medium-sized, versatile multi-role warship.
Roles

While designed primarily for ship-to-ship combat, the Venator had secondary roles ranging from starfighter carrier, to military transport and battleship escort. The expanded carrier role made the Venator-class popular amongst Jedi starfighter aces.

As a popular multi-role warship of the Republic Navy, the Venator was considered heavily armed and armored enough to lead assaults on Rim worlds like Utapau as well as fast enough to chase down blockade runners. Due to being relatively less self-sufficient than other ships in the fleet, the Venator-class often relied upon supply lines to aid long-range campaigns.

These vessels also sported the red color of diplomatic immunity all Republic ships sported; by the beginning of the Galactic Empire, the hulls were deprived of this symbol of the Republic, giving them a dull Imperial-gray appearance.

Revell Star Wars Republic Star Destroyer

KIT HIGHLIGHTS

Detailed plastic pieces molded in light gray

Fully detailed engines

Conning tower assembly

Waterslide decals

Illustrated instructions

Length: 19-13/16″ (503.23mm)

Width: 9-5/8″ (244.47mm)

Height: 4-13/16″ (122.23mm)

Skill level: 4

Parts: 74

Kit # 85-6458

MSRP: $42.99

Street Price: $34.99 (approx)

Finally, I can call this model kit done and part of my Star Wars collection. When the Republic Star Destroyer from Revell was available, the Clone Wars animated series was in full swing. Unfortunately I suffer from a severe case of procrastination plus the frequent arrival of model kits to our premises, that I totally forgot about it. The moment I wanted to build it, the kit was out-of-print. Prices on the auction site were prohibited with some listings going for over $200. I recall sending an email to Revell inquiring for a future re-release of this kit. Good fella Ed Sexton promptly replied with pretty a huge wink. A few months later Revell announced the re-release of the elusive Republic Star Destroyer.

I don’t consider the Republic Star Destroyer a Snap-Tite model kit in all the sense. But it is an easy build straight out of the box. This model kit offers a very nice canvas for further super detailing. If time is no object for you, you can almost bring this model kit to filming miniature quality. I opted to light up the kit with fiber optic. Every single hole was drilled by hand with .135 for .25 fiber optic strands and .020 drill bits for .50 fiber optic. There is room for improvement on the engine nozzles but they will do out-of-the -box -. Dang! I need a mini 3D printer for jobs like this.- I did cut one of the blast doors to expose my vision of a hangar. It is not screen accurate so please be gentle 😉

I added to the engine nozzles 3 & 5mm blue flickering LEDs. As you all can see on the picture below, it can be powered via 12v AC adapter or a 12v with 8 AA battery pack for shows. I have seen one of these kits built with the top hangar doors open and the interior scratch built like in the animated series of Clone wars. Again, if time is not a problem, this kit will keep you quite busy.

NOTE FROM THE AUTHOR

I am really glad that Revell decided to listen to its customers and bring this model back when we wanted it the most. My local hobby shop
(Hub Hobby) is well stocked with them and I am planning to get at least 2 more. For $35.00 the Republic Star Destroyer from Revell is a steal.

My sincere thanks to Revell USA for sending in this production sample.

George has been hosting review sites and blogging about toy collectibles, travel, digital photography and Nikon digital imaging since 1998. His first model kit build was a Testors 1/35 DODGE WC-54 in 1984.